Tying apparatus for rods, wires or the like preferably for tying reinforcing rods crossing each other



July 19, 1960 2,945,514

' E. WYSS TYING APPARATUS FOR RODS, WIRES OR THE LIKE PREFERABLY FOR TYING REINFORCING RODS CROSSING EACH OTHER Filed Feb. 7. 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 l-.L- 3 12- 69 105 Fig.1

July 19, 1960 E. wYss TYING APPARATUS FOR RODS. WIRES PREFERABLY FOR TYING REIN RODS CROSSING EACH 0 OR THE LIKE FORCING THER.

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. '7, 1957 United States Patent O TYING APPARATUS FOR RODS, WIRES OR THE LIKE PREFERABLY FOR TYlNG REINFORCING RODS CROSSING EACH OTHER Eugen Wyss, Adliswil near Zurich, Switzerland, assignor to Ernst Schoch A.-G., Basel, Switzerland Filed Feb. 7, 1957, Ser. No. 638,830

Claims priority, application Switzerland Feb. 17, 1956 Claims. (Cl. 140-93) My invention relates to an improved apparatus for connecting or tying rods, wires or the like, preferably for tying reinforcing rods crossing each other.

In the art of erecting concrete structures, a trend to use reinforcing rods of reduced diameter prevails because a reinforcement consisting of rods of a smaller diameter will have a larger surface increasing the bond between the concrete and the reinforcing steel rods thus enabling the concrete to carry a larger share of the tensional stresses. Where thin steel rods or wires are used, however, in constructing the reinforcement it is necessary to connect or tie up the crossing rods at a multiplicity of crossing points.

It is the primary object of the present invention to provide improved means for making such connections quite rapidly since-the time required for the performance of such work materially afiects the economy of the method of construction.

Prior to the present invention wire loops have been used for instance for the performance of such connections, such wire loops being provided with eyes at their ends which must be gripped by means of a manually operable tool for the purpose of twisting the ends of the loop with each other. Alternatively, steel clips were used whiich are fixed to the crossing reinforcing elements by a suitable manipulation. In either case a time of several seconds is required for the completion of any individual connection. Moreover, the application of the steel clips is a rather tiresome work so that the output of an operator drops considerably as the time passes. Also, the steel clips are rather expensive. Attempts to develop other means for connecting the crossing reinforcing elements have not led to a satisfactory result.

Therefore, it is another object of the present invention to provide an improved apparatus for connecting the reinforcing elements of concrete in a rapid manner by a plain wire only, i.e. wire that has not been provided with loops, clips or the like in a special manner.

The use of the novel tying apparatus for connecting the reinforcing steel elements of concrete at the crossing points represents a novel method whereby the production of a reinforcement having a multiplicity of crossing points will be accelerated and rendered more economical.

A preferred embodiment of the present invention is diagrammatically illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which Fig. 1 is a longitudinal section taken through the novel tying apparatus,

Fig. 2 is a sectional detail view of a modification of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1,

1 Fig. 3 is a sectional view, the section being taken along the line III-III of Fig. 2,

' Fig. 4 illustrates another modification of a detail,

Fig. 5 is a sectional view, the section being taken along the line V-V of Fig. 4, V

Figs. 6 and 7 are an elevation and a bottom view of a modification of a detail and Figs. 8 and 9 are an elevation and a bottom view respectively ofanother modification of a detail,

Figs. 7 and 9 being viewed in the direction of the arrows VII or IX respectively.

The tying apparatus illustrated in Fig. 1 includes a housing, the back of which is formed by a plate 1. A similar front plate of which the upper portion only is visible in Fig. l is connected with the plate 1 by sidewalls 2 cooperating with the back-wall to form a handle 3. On a shaft 4 journaled in brackets 5 which by means of a common base plate 6 are fixed to the plate 1 a worm '7 is mounted in meshwith a worm wheel 8 represented by indication of its pitch circle only. A pair of cams 10 and 11 is fixed to the shaft 9 of the worm wheel. One end of the shaft 4 is connected with a flexible shaft 12 adapted to be driven by a small electric motor which may be carried, for instance, by the operator on his back. The other end ofthe shaft 4 is adapted to be connected with a shaft 14 by means of a clutch 13 the shaft 14 being journaled inbrackets 15 having a common base plate '16 attached to the plate 1. The clutch 13 includes a'sleeve slidable on the shaft 4 in the longitudinal direction thereof and connected with the shaft 4 for common rotation by known means not shown. The sleeve 17 carries a clutch disk 18 provided with a friction lining 19. The mating clutch disk 20 has a hub 21 fixed to the shaft 14 and is likewise provided with'a friction lining 22. One of the bearings of the shaft 14 mounted in the brackets 15 is a thrust bearing adapted to take up the thrust produced in the operation of the clutch. On a pin 23 a bell crank is mounted having an arm24 pivotally connected at 25 with a link 26, whereas the other arm 27 of the bell crank is bifurcated, each bifurcation carrying a short stud 28 engaging a groove 29 of the sleeve 17. The link 26 is pivotally connected at 30 to a swingable plate 31 mounted for pivotal movement about the pivot 32.

A spring 101 tends to swing the plate 31 in anticlockwise direction, thus tending to keep a follower 33 mounted on the plate 31 in engagement with the cam 10 mentioned hereinabove. On the pivot 32 of the swingable plate 31a two-armed lever 34, 36 is pivotally mounted, a spring 102 tending to swing such lever likewise in anti-clockwise direction, thereby tending to keep a follower roller 35 mounted on the end of the lever arm 34 in engagement with the other cam 11. The other arm 36 of the lever carries a pivot 37 on which a feed roller 38 and a sprocket 39 coaxial fixed thereto are rotatably mounted. In Fig. l the roller 38 and the sprocket 39 are diagrammatically represented by a common circle. The feed roller 38 is mounted in opposed relationship to a pressure roller 40 of rubber which is rotatably mounted on a pivot 41. The sprocket 39 is connected by an endless chain 42 with a sprocket 43 mounted on the shaft 9 of the worm wheel 8. When the feed roller 38 is driven, a wire 44 is pulled off a supply reel 45 rotatably mounted in the housing on a pivot 46. After passing through the rollers 38, 40 the wire is fed into guiding means 47 attached to a support 48 rigidly connected with the plate 1. The lower edge 49 of the guiding means 47 constitutes a stationary cutter blade cooperating with a movable cutter blade 50 secured to the lower end of the lever 52 pivotally mounted at 51 on the plate 1.

The lever 52 is formed with a cam 53 cooperating with an abutment member 54 fixed to a link 55 which at its upper end at 56 is pivotally connected to the pivotal plate 31 and at its lower end at 57' has pivotally connected thereto a hook 58. This hook is pivotally mounted on a pivot 59 attached to the lower end of the support 48. Moreover a controlling member 60 is mounted on the support 48 and adapted to direct the wire towards a twisting member 61. This twisting member includes a sleeve 62 slidably mounted on the lower end section 63 of the shaft 14, the diameter of such end section being somewhat increased over that of the main section of the shaft. The end section 63 has a transverse bore in which a pin 64 is mounted which engages a pair of opposite longitudinal slots 65 in the sleeve 62. Moreover for safeguidance the twisting member 61 is additionally guided in a guide ring 66 attached to the support 48. The lower portion of the twisting member is provided with four longitudinal grooves 67 two of which only are visible in Fig. 1. Detent means 103 of a known type are mounted on the shaft 14, such means comprising a rectangular member, for instance, cooperating with a spring leaf fixed to the housing and operative to always arrest the shaft 14 and the twisting member 61 carried thereby in the angular position shown in the drawings after the shaft 14 has been released by disengagement of the clutch. In this angular position two of said grooves 67 register with the plane of the section shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

On the handle 3 a press button 68 is mounted forming part of a switch 104 serving to start the electric motor which drives the flexible shaft 12. The electrical conductors required for this purpose preferably extend within a flexible sleeve 69 which encases the flexible shaft 12. Alternatively such conductors may extend within a separate cable 1125. For automatically cutting off the motor after a tie has been produced, a pin 70 is provided on the cam 10. When the cam rotating in the direction of the arrow 71 arrives in the position in which its section of increased radius passes from beneath the follower roller 33, the pin is in the position 70' indicated by dotted lines and shortly thereafter upon continued rotation will close a spring contact 71 indicated diagrammatically.

The switch provided on the handle 3 and the spring contact 71' are so included in a relay circuit 106 of a known type that the motor will be cut off under any circumstances whenthe contact 71' is closed even if the operator should accidentally continue after termination of the cycle of operation described hereinafter to depress the button 68. The operator cannot start the motor again by renewed depression of the button until this button has been released.

The operation of the described apparatus is as follows:

At the commencement of the cycle of operation the portion A of the cam ltl engages the follower roller 33 and the portion B of the cam 11 engages the follower roller 35. The pivotal plate 31 is turned about its pivot 32 in anticlockwise direction with reference to the position shown in Fig. 1 and has lifted the link 55 whereby the hook 58 has been pivoted in anticlockwise direction with reference to the position shown in the Fig. l. The operator now places the apparatus upon a pair of reinforcing steel elements 72 or the like which are to be tied with each other thus placing the twisting member 61 directly above such steel elements 72. While the reinforcing steel elements 72 are simply shown as extending parallel to each other, in fact, they will cross each other as a rule. In that event the apparatus is so positioned that the plane of the book 58 substantially divides the angle formed by the two reinforcing elements in equal parts. Now the operator will depress the button 68 to thereby start the electric motor which acting through the intermediary of the worm 7 and the worm wheel 8 rotates the shaft 9. As a result, the large radius section of the cam 11 will pass into engagement with the follower roller 35 thereby turning the lever 34, 36 about its pivot 32 in clockwise direction, thus moving the feed roller 33 into engagement with the wire 44 and the pressure roller 40. The feed roller 38 is driven by the shaft 9 through the intermediary of the chain-driving means 39, 42 and 43 whereby the wire 44 will be fed downwardly, its free end which heretofore was located near the cutter 50 now passing into one of the grooves 67 of the twisting member 61 until the end of the wire will project therebeyond downwardly. At this time of the cycle of operation the cutter blade 50 is displaced towards the right so that it cannot interfere with the feed of the wire, the link 55 at this time being upwardly displaced with reference to Fig. l and, therefore, holding the abutment member 54 spaced from the cam edge 53 of the lever 52 on which the cutter blade 50 is mounted, thus enabling the spring 107 to swing the lever 52 in anticlockwise direction with reference to Fig. 1. As soon, however, as the large diameter section of the cam 11 passes beneath the roller 35, the feed roller 38 will disengage the wire and will thus discontinue the feed thereof. Soon afterwards the sector of large radius of the cam 10 engages the follower roller 33, as illustrated in Fig. 1, whereby the swingable plate 31 will be pivoted in clockwise direction into the position shown lowering the link 55 and thereby swinging the hook 58 in clockwise direction. In the course of its pivotal movement the mouth of the hook engages the end section of wire 44 bending such end section around the reinforcing elements 72, whereby the end section of the wire will be formed to a loop, the extreme end of the wire entering such groove 67 of the twisting member 61 as is opposite to the groove 67 into which the wire had been fed. In order to facilitate the engagement of the wire by the hook, the internal faces of the mouth of the hook may be provided with a groove disposed within a median plane coinciding with the sectional plane illustrated in Fig. l. The link 55 in the course of its downward motion which had imparted the pivotal movement to the hook 58 into the position shown in Fig. 1 caused cooperation of the elements 5254 whereby the cutter blade 50 was moved to the left causing it to cooperate with the opposed stationary cutter blade 49 to thereby sever the looped end section of the wire 44 from the section passing from the supply reel.

The pivotal movement of the plate 31 in clockwise direction causes the link 26 to swing the bell crank 24, 27 about its pivot 23 in clockwise direction whereby the clutch-13 will be engaged as a result of the downward displacement of the sleeve 17 by the studs 28. The driven shaft 14 will now impart rotation to the twisting member 61 through the intermediary of the pin 64 thereby twisting the ends of the wire loop located in the grooves 67 with each other. In this twisting operation the twisted ends of the wire loop urge the twisting member 61 upwardly under considerable friction, the member 61 being displaced on the section 63 of the shaft 14. Should it be desirable to increase such friction, a pressure spring could be inserted in the sleeve 62 of the twisting member 61, one end of such spring bearing against the end of the shaft section 63 and the other end of the spring bearing against the twisting member.

Upon completion of the twisting operation the stud 79 provided on the cam it closes the contact 71 to thereby stop the electric motor. Just before this happens, the large radius sector of the cam 19 has passed from beneath the follower roller 33 permitting the pivotal plate 31, the hook 58 connected therewith, the cutter 5i) and the clutch 13 to return to the initial positions. The motor is now rapidly decelerated to a stop, the distance between the end of the large radius section of the cam 10 from the cycle starting points A and B being chosen in conformity with the decelerating time passing after closure of the contact 71 until the electric motor comes to a full stop. If desired, braking means may be provided for rapidly stopping the electric motor. Moreover, the spring 102 pivoting lever 34, 36 in anticlockwise direction must be rather powerful so as to prevent the follower roller 35 from climbing upon the large radius section of'the cam 11 before the electric motor is started again.

In Figs. 2 and 3 a modification of the cutting means for severing the wire loop is illustrated. A guide ring 73 substituted for the guide ring 66 and mounted on the support 48 is located so far down with respect to the twisting member 61 as to overlap the upper ends of the grooves 67, when the twisting member 61 assumes its lowermost position.

The wire 44, passing-from the guide means 47 enters a slanting bore 73 in this guide ring 74 and is thus guided into one of the grooves 67.

In this modification the wire is cut by cooperation, of an edge 75 of the groove 67 with the edge 76 of the mouth of the bore 74. When the twisting member 61 upon engagement of the clutch 13 is rotated in the direction of the arrow 77, the wire 44 will be cut by the cooperating edges 75 and 76. When this modification is used, the electric motor must be sufficiently'powerful to produce a starting torque of the required cutting power and the wire must be of a comparatively soft material and must have a comparatively small diameter. The wall of the grooves 67 need not necessarily extend radially but may extend at an angle to the radius causing the cutting edge 75 to have a cross-sectional angle somewhat smaller than 90.

In Figs. 4 and 5 a modified twisting member 61 is illustrated, the lower portion thereof being shown only. This twisting member is provided with a pair of hooks 78 which are so shaped that when viewed as in Fig. 5 a S-shape will result.

When the loop is formed of the wire 44, the ends of such loop will be positioned into these hooks 78.

In this modification a braking device 79 is provided for the purpose of braking the movement of the ends of the loop during the twisting operation. The braking mechanism comprises a pair of braking arms 80 mounted on a support 48 fixed to the housing, such arms engaging a cylindrical portion 81 of the twisting member 61 in a resilient manner. A screw 82 provided with a nut 83 permits adjustment of the pressure exerted by the arms 80 upon the portion 81 of the shaft.

During rotation of the twisting member 61 the ends of the loop are pulled through and are whipped repeatedly between the rotating cylindrical portion 81 of the shaft and the stationary yieldable arms 80 whereby the movement of the ends of the loop is braked ina powerful manner due to the repeated frictional engagement of the wire between the shaft 81 and the cooperating yielding arms 80. This will promote the formation of a very rigid tie connecting the reinforcing steel elements 72.

In Figs. 6 to 9 two modifications of the twisting member are illustrated. In the modification shown in Figs. 6 and 7 the tapering lower end portion 85 of the twisting member 61 is provided with four radially disposed plane wings 84 extending at right angles to each other. The modification illustrated in Figs. 8 and 9 is likewise provided with four wings 86 mounted on the tapering lower end 85 of the twisting member 61, such wings 86 having bent ends acting as hooks which will keep the wire in engagement with the wings.

The pressure roller 45 may be so mounted as to be adjustable towards the feed roller 38 whereby the length of wire fed at any time may be changed.

The tying apparatus described hereinabove with reference to Fig. l is capable of numerous modifications.

Thus, for instance, the apparatus may be provided with pneumatic cylinders in lieu'of'a'n electric motor. In this event a slide is preferably mounted on the handle for manual operation. Movement of the slide causes a rack connected therewith to impart rotation to a pinion meshing with the rack and connected with the feed roller 38 which is thus driven. Thereupon a stop mounted on the slide will actuate a valve whereby compressed air is admitted into the pneumatic cylinder to displace a piston therein. This piston is connected by a link, such as link 55, with the hook, such as 58, and the cutter, such as 50. When the link arrives in its end position it will actuate a second valve whereby compressed air is admitted into a second pneumatic cylinder to displace a piston therein which acting via a rack and a pinion imparts rotation to the twisting member such as 61. For restoring the slide and the two pistons springs may be provided. In this modification the electric motor, the associated electrical circuit, numerous mechanical elements of the modification shown in Fig. 1 including the shaft 9, the cams mounted thereon, the worm gear transmission, the clutch 13 and the pivotal plate 31 are eliminated.

In another modification including a manually operable slide, such slide effects not only the feed of the wire but also the pivotal movement of the hook, such as hook 58, and the operation of the cutter lever, such as lever 52, no auxiliary power being required. Moreover, the movement of the slide will bias the spring of a small spring motor which, when the slide is released by the operator, will impart rotation to the twisting member, such as member 61. This modification has the advantage that its use does not depend on the existence of electric or pneumatic power.

Moreover, the modification illustrated in Fig. 1 may be modified by so increasing the length of the elements 14, 17, 48, 52 and 55 in excess of that shown in Fig. 1 that the operator need not bend down or kneel down in order to place the apparatus upon the steel elements to be tied.

The cutting power required to sever the loop of wire may be accumulated in a spring. When such spring is released, a powerful blow will be imparted to the movable cutter blade moving same into engagement with the cooperating stationary cutter blade. Alternatively, the cutting power may be accumulated in form of the momentum of a' rotating body, the cutting operation being effected by abruptly clutching such body with the movable cutter blade. Also the embodiment illustrated in Fig. 1 may be modified by permitting the motor to rotate continuously, clutches being actuated to operate the feeding elements and the twisting element at the proper time.

For forming the loop extendingiaround the reinforcing steel elements to be tied, the wire may be given hairpin shape by means of a suitable die, one arm of the hair-pin being longer than the other arm, such hair-pin being brought beneath the crossing point of the two steel elements to be tied and, after angular displacement the ends of the loop are caused to slide upwardly into engagement with the twisting member. The term wire used hereinabove and in the accompanying claims is to be interpreted so broad as to include a thin elongated element, e.g. a tape, of metal, of a plastic or of any other suitable material. Any other suitable supply of wire may be substituted for the supply reel, such as wire lengths that are not wound up.

The tying apparatus described hereinabove may be employed to tie more than two rods or the like provided that they can be accommodated by the mouth of the hook. Also, anyone of the reinforcing elements-to be tied may be formed by -a plurality of twisted wires or by rods having any suitable cross-sectional profile other than a circular profile.

While the invention has been described in connection with a number of preferred'embodiments thereof, it will be understood that it is capable of further modification, and this application is intended to cover any variations, uses, or adaptations of the invention following, in' general, the principles of the invention and including such departures from the present disclosure as come within known or customary practice in the art to which the invention pertains, and as fall within the scope of the invention or the limits of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. Apparatus for automatically feeding and tying a wire around rods such as are used as reinforcements in concrete, including a housing having mounted therein a drive shaft, a driven shaft in axially alignment therewith and projectingwith one'end from'said housing, a wire twisting member mounted on said end of said driven shaft, a manually controllable friction clutch between said drive shaft and said driven shaft, two axially aligned cams in said housing, means operated by one of said cams for controlling said clutch, a driving connection between said drive shaft and said two cams, a wire sup ply reel within said housing, wire feeding means in said housing, lever means connected to said wire feeding means, said lever means being actuated by one of said cams for feeding wire from said supply reel downwardly to one side of said wire twisting member and beyond the outermost end thereof, a support extending outside said housing to a point adjacent said wire twisting member, a hook pivotally attached to said support movable toward and away from the end of said wire twisting member to bend and guide the wire around the rods to be tied and in the form of a loop toward the other side of said wire twisting member after passing around said rods, a linkage operated by said other cam and pivotally connected to said hook to tilt the same toward and away from said rods to be tied, and means for cutting the loop-shaped portion of the wire from the supply wire when said twisting member starts to rotate.

2. Apparatus for automatically feeding and tying a wire around rods such as are used as reinforcements in concrete, including a housing having mounted therein a drive shaft, a driven shaft in axially alignment therewith and projecting with one end from said housing, a wire twisting member mounted on said end of said driven shaft, a manually controllable friction clutch between said drive shaft and said driven shaft, two axially aligned cams in said housing, a driving connection between Said drive shaft and said two cams, means operably engaging one of said cams for controlling said clutch, wire supply reel within said housing, wire feeding means in said housing, lever means connected to said wire feeding means, said lever means being actuated by one of said cams for feeding wire from said supply reel downwardly to one side of said wire twisting member and beyond the outermost end thereof, a support exicnding outside said housing to a point adjacent said wire twisting member, a hook pivotally attached to said support movable toward and away from the end of said twisting member for bending and guiding the wire around the rods to be tied and in the form of a loop toward the other side of said wire twisting member, a linkage operated by said other cam and pivotally connected to said hook to tilt the same toward and away from said rods to be tied, means for cutting the loopshaped portion of the wire from the supply wire at the end of said wire feeding cycle and when said twisting member starts to rotate, and yieldable brake means attached to said support and frictionally engaging said wire twisting member between its ends in such a manner that the ends of the loop-shaped wire piece extend through said brake means and are frictionally gripped between the wire twistin member and yieldable brake means dur ing rotation of said wire twisting member are repeatedly forcibly moved past said yieldable brake means.

3. Apparatus as claimed in claim 2, in which said yieldable brake means comprises two yieldable straight arms extending transversely of said wire'twisting member and engaging diametrically opposed sides ofthe same.

4. Apparatus as claimed in claim 2, in which said yieldable brake means comprises two yieldable straight arms extending transversely of said wire twisting member and engaging diametrically opposed sides of the same, and means extending through spaced portions of said two arms for varying the'pressure of the same against said wire twistingmember.

5. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, in which said wire twisting member is provided with a cylindrical body having attached at its lower end two radially outwardly extending wire engaging hooks arranged to form an S-shaped wire twisting portion.

6. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, in which said wire twisting member comprises a cylindrical body with a plurality of axially extending grooves for the reception of both ends of the loop-shaped wire to be twisted, and means for mounting said wire twisting member axially slidable on the outer end of said driven shaft.

7. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, in which said wire twisting member comprises a cylindrical body with a plurality of axially extending grooves for the reception of both ends of the loop-shaped wire to be twisted, and means for mounting said wire twisting member axially slidable on the outer end of said driven shaft, one of the longitudinal edges of said grooves is constructed as a knife edge adapted to cut the wire fed into the groove when said wire twisting member starts to rotate.

8. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, in which said wire cutting means includes a stationary cutting edge in said support and a moveable cutting blade actuated by the hook tilting linkage, and means actuating said cutting blade by the linkage which also controls the operation of said book.

9. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, in which said wire feeding means includes a roller mounted rotatably about a fixed axis in saidhousing and a pivotally mounted roller engaging said first named roller, and means for driving said pivotally mounted roller by said driving con nection between said drive shaft and said two cams.

10. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, in which said wire cutting means includes a stationary cutting edge on said support and a moveable cutting blade actuated by the hook tilting linkage, and means actuating said cutting blade by the linkage which also controls the operation of said hook, and a tube for guiding the wire from said feeding means to the outside of said housing and toward said wire twisting member, the outermost end of said tube having said stationary cutting edge formed thereon.

Referenees Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

